Anything and Everything

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Thursday, June 9, 2011

So I went to Atlantic City with a couple friends last weekend to gamble and hang out. I was going in expecting to lose at least a couple hundred dollars, but I ended up winning a hundred after about seven hours of gambling in the casino. I was up about $350 at one point and could have just called it a day at that. The problem was that I would've had to spend the next several hours just watching other people gamble and that's no fun. So I put a few chips in my pocket and ended up losing the rest. Overall it was a good trip though, we stayed at the Tropicana. My new favorite game is Spanish 21. It's similar to Blackjack, except there are no tens. You also have an option to place a side bet called, "match the dealer". It either of your cards are the same as the dealers face card you're paid three to one, and if it's suited you're paid twelve to one (They use eight decks at a time so the odds aren't too bad).

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

So after a night of drinking, it's five in the morning and my buddies and I are still wide awake. On any normal night, we would just drink more, but the most unlikely of circumstances is afoot. We are actually out of liquor. I know, hard to believe. At least there are about twelve or so beers left. Well we could either play some COD (I'm not a huge fan), smoke another cigarette (just hit one five minutes ago), or play a couple normal games of Beer Pong. Or we could be hardcore and PLAY THE MOST CRUCIAL GAME OF 3D BEER PONG EVER! The rules are simple. You cannot make any cups except for those on the highest tier. So starting out, the only cup that can be made is the red one. We usually reserve 3D Beer Pong for double overtime with just three on bottom and one on the top. The only problem is that if there is not enough beer in the cups they can tip over, and sometimes fall into other cups, which really isn't a problem. The beer cans in the middle were just for the picture. :)

Monday, June 6, 2011

Everyone with a smartphone or ipad has at least heard of Angry Birds. It is an addicting puzzle game where players fire wingless birds into structures with the sole intention of killing malicious green pigs, which have stolen eggs from the birds. There are several different birds with unique abilities that must be used at certain times throughout the game. Upon release, Angry Birds was widely received and there are three different versions of the game out now. Each level has a set number of birds available to the player and the level is completed when all of the pigs are destroyed with said birds.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Lex Parsimoniae, better known as Occam's Razor, is the protocol that states that of two theories, being equal in all other respects, the most plausible is the simplest (requires the least complex explanation in order to make it work). It does not simply assert that the simplest explanation is the correct one, they both must accurately provide an answer for the question in which they attempt to answer. It merely holds that until the empirical evidence and explanations for a more complex theory are in place, it is more pragmatic to lean towards the more simple theory. This is used at the rule of thumb in the scientific community to this day, and has been used in order to develop complex theories like the Helio-centric model of the solar system and Einstein's General Reltivity. Occam's Razor, however, is a heuristic principle, not a principle of logic.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The comets we see from Earth come from the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. The Kuiper Belt is a massive belt of comets and rocky debris in space that begins just outside the orbit of Neptune and extends to approximately fifty-five Astronomical Units from the Sun. Many objects in the Kuiper belt consist of a mixture of frozen water/ammonia/methane and rock. The Oort cloud could have as many as a trillion comets and encompasses most of the solar system. Both regions are remnants of the nebula from which the solar system was formed. It is interesting to note that the tails of a comet are only visible when it passes nearby the Sun. As these "dirty snowballs" heat up and sublimate, producing a tail of gas they points away from the Sun and tail of dust that curves along with the orbital path of the comet. Based on current scientific evidence, it is observed that comets can come from any direction in space and usually have very high orbital eccentricity.